Judges 6:13

13 And Gideon said to him, "Please, sir,[a] if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are 1all his wonderful deeds 2that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."

Judges 6:13 Meaning and Commentary

Judges 6:13

And Gideon said to him, oh my Lord
Taking him not to be an angel, but some illustrious and eminent person:

if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?
all these troubles and calamities through the oppression of the Midianites; for he understood what was said to him in the salutation, respecting not himself personally and privately, but the people of Israel; and he could not tell how to reconcile the Lord's being with them, and yet suffering such sad things to befall them they groaned under:

where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, did not
the Lord bring us up from Egypt?
when God was with his people, and brought them out of Egypt, he wrought miracles for them, whereby they were delivered out of their bondage; of this their fathers had assured them, but nothing of this kind was wrought for them now, and therefore there was no appearance of the Lord being with them, but all the contrary, as follows:

but now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of the
Midianites;
and there was good reason for it, because they had forsaken the Lord, and worshipped the gods of the Amorites.

Judges 6:13 In-Context

11 Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor."
13 And Gideon said to him, "Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."
14 And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?"
15 And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 89:49; Isaiah 63:15
  • 2. Psalms 44:1

Footnotes 1

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.